Relief for families

Nigeria: More than 200 abducted children are free

The desperate parents of the kidnapped children have been hoping for their release for days.(Bild: AP)

Two and a half weeks after their abduction, more than 200 children and employees of a Nigerian school have been released unharmed, according to the authorities. 

The kidnappers had demanded a ransom of around 640,000 euros. The government refused to pay.

The children and school staff had been abducted by armed strangers on March 7 in a remote location in north-western Nigeria. Now they can breathe a sigh of relief: The children were unharmed, the governor's office of the Kaduna sub-state announced. The coordinator was the National Security Advisor. The Nigerian army must also be thanked.

One of the classrooms of the school where the kidnapping took place.(Bild: AFP )

It was the first mass kidnapping in Africa's most populous country since 2021, when 150 schoolchildren were abducted. Ten years ago, the Islamist group Boko Haram began attacking schools and abducting children.

Children abducted to extort ransom
Abductions of individuals or small groups are almost a daily occurrence in Nigeria, especially in the north of the country. Criminal gangs who want to extort ransom money are behind this. Relatives often have to sacrifice their savings or sell land and livestock to raise the money.